In the medical field, various techniques using a medical device which includes a slender hollow tube may be performed. As an example, a technique for percutaneously introducing various types of catheter devices or the like into a living body is performed using an introducer configured to have an introducer sheath. The introducer sheath includes a sheath tube and a dilator which is assembled in the introducer sheath during use.
The introducer sheath is percutaneously introduced into a body cavity (for example, a blood vessel) of a living body from a distal side (i.e., distal end) of the sheath tube. A hollow portion formed inside the sheath tube is utilized as an access path connecting the inside and the outside of a living body in a state where the distal side of the sheath tube is introduced into the living body and a proximal side of the sheath tube is exposed by a predetermined length to the outside of the living body.
For example, there is a proposal in Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-144062 to provide a coating layer, which exhibits lubricating characteristics when wet, on an outer surface of a sheath tube. The coating layer helps the insertion and removal of the sheath tube with respect to a living body to be smooth and in a low-invasive manner.